The Ugliest Word

<p dir=ltr style=line-height:1.2;text-indent: 36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;><span style=font-size:12pt;font-family:Avenirsans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;>Child rape at the hands of a parent is a topic so taboo victims feel debilitating life-long shame and rarely speak up. This novel speaks up.</span></p><p dir=ltr style=line-height:1.2;text-indent: 36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;><span style=font-size:12pt;font-family:Avenirsans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;>The Ugliest Word</span><span style=font-size:12pt;font-family:Avenirsans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;> tells the story of a little girl named Lark whose father is molesting her as she navigates childhood and the woman she becomes. An aspiring writer and artist Lark's spunk and creativity buoy her as the abuse progresses. </span></p><p dir=ltr style=line-height:1.2;text-indent: 36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;><span style=font-size:12pt;font-family:Avenirsans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;>Lacking other confidantes Lark befriends Glassman a mysterious character who collects glass bottles from the alley and leaves special gifts at a loose board in Lark's fence. </span></p><p dir=ltr style=line-height:1.2;text-indent: 36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;><span style=font-size:12pt;font-family:Avenirsans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;>As a grown woman Lark learns to cope with her past abuse by talking on an international phone conference line for incest victims. Her healing is disrupted when she receives word that her father is dying.</span></p><p dir=ltr style=line-height:1.2;text-indent: 36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;><span style=font-size:12pt;font-family:Avenirsans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;>Maybe he'll apologize. A death-bed confession. Maybe she'll forgive him.</span></p><p dir=ltr style=line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;><span style=font-size:12pt;font-family:Avenirsans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;>But maybe she won't.</span></p><p dir=ltr style=line-height:1.2;text-indent: 36pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;><span style=font-size:12pt;font-family:Avenirsans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;>The Ugliest Word is for anyone who has survived childhood incest and for everyone who loves a survivor is friends with or works with one.</span></p>